When there are several ribs starting together from the base of a blade, it is said to be _radiate-veined_ or _palmate-veined_.[Illustration] When the great veins all branch from the midrib, the leaf is _feather-veined_ or _pinnate-veined_. [Illustration] If these veins are straight, distinct, and regularly placed, the leaf is said to be _straight-veined_. The Chestnut is [Illustration] a good example. Leaves having veinlets joining each other like a net are said to be _netted-veined_. All the trees with broad leaves in the northern United States, with one exception, have netted-veined foliage. A leaf having its veinlets parallel to one another is said to be _parallel-veined_ or _-nerved_. [Illustration] The Ginkgo-tree, the Indian Corn, and the Calla Lily have parallel-veined leaves. The narrow leaves of the cone-bearing trees are also parallel-veined. FORMS.--Leaves can readily be divided into the three following groups with regard to their general outline: 1. _Broadest at the middle._ _Orbicular_, [Illustration] about as broad as long and rounded. _Oval_, [Illustration] about twice as long as wide, and regularly curved. _Elliptical_, [Illustration] more than twice as long as wide, and evenly curved. _Oblong_, [Illustration] two or three times as long as wide, with the sides parallel. _Linear_, [Illustration] elongated oblong, more than three times as long as wide. _Acerose_, [Illustration] needle-shaped, like the leaf of the Pine-tree. 2. _Broadest near the base._ _Deltoid_, [Illustration] broad and triangular. _Ovate_, [Illustration] evenly curved, with a broad, rounded base. _Heart-shaped_ or _cordate_, [Illustration] similar to ovate, but with a notch at the base. _Lanceolate_, [Illustration] shaped like the head of a lance. _Awl-shaped_, [Illustration] shaped like the shoemaker's curved awl. _Scale-shaped_, [Illustration] short, rounded, and appressed to the stem. The Arbor-vitæ has both awl-shaped and scale-shaped leaves. 3. _Broadest near the apex._ _Obovate_, [Illustration] same as ovate, but with the stem at the narrow end. _Obcordate_, [Illustration] a reversed heart-shape. _Oblanceolate_, [Illustration] a reversed lanceolate. _Wedge-shaped_ or _cuneate_, [Illustration] having a somewhat square end and straight sides like a wedge. These words are often united to form compound ones when the form of the leaf is somewhat intermediate. The term which most nearly suits the general form is placed at the end; thus _lance-ovate_ indicates a leaf between lanceolate and ovate, but nearer ovate than lanceolate; while _ovate-lanceolate_ indicates one nearer lanceolate.